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From storage cylinder to knowledge centre, tourist attraction and city icon.

LAVA’s winning competition entry for an energy park and energy storage tower has broken ground and will be completed in 2019.

The existing cylindrical-shaped storage centre is transformed into a dynamic sculpture, a city icon, a knowledge hub on sustainable energy and fully accessible to the public with city views.

A multi-layered facade structure is inspired by the geometries of nature. An inner shell coloured in different shades of blue wraps the building. Tilted elliptical rings positioned around the cylinder continue in the outer façade with "energy loops" circling the structure and rising dramatically to the top. A cable network between the steel rings forms the outer façade layer.

Around 20,000 diamond-shaped plates of thin stainless steel are hooked with a simple elastic connection in the meshes of this steel network allowing them to twist up to 90 degrees in the wind.

The complex interplay of movement, light and shadow is generated by sun and wind, with no additional energy or complicated technology required.

Visitors will reach an elliptical entrance level where two elevators take them to a roof terrace with large staggered terraces and event spaces and a bistro.

The complex will be one of the tallest buildings in Heidelberg and will be a strong symbol of the transition towards renewables.

The existing cylindrical-shaped storage centre is transformed into a dynamic sculpture, a city icon, a knowledge hub on sustainable energy and fully accessible to the public with city views.

A multi-layered facade structure is inspired by the geometries of nature. An inner shell coloured in different shades of blue wraps the building. Tilted elliptical rings positioned around the cylinder continue in the outer façade with "energy loops" circling the structure and rising dramatically to the top. A cable network between the steel rings forms the outer façade layer.

Around 11,000 diamond-shaped plates of thin stainless steel are hooked with an ingenious connection to this steel network allowing them to twist up to 45 degrees in the wind.

The complex interplay of movement, light and shadow is generated by sun and wind, with no additional energy or complicated technology required.

Visitors will reach an elliptical entrance level where two elevators take them to a roof terrace with large staggered terraces and event spaces and a bistro.

The complex will be one of the tallest buildings in Heidelberg and a strong symbol of the transition towards renewables.